Peltandra sagittifolia
Peltandra sagittifolia
Safety & Hazards
The plant is rich in calcium oxylate, this is toxic and if consumed makes the mouth and digestive tract feel as though hundreds of tiny needles are being stuck into it. However, calcium oxylate is easily destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant[1].
Cultivation Details
Requires a wet lime-free humus-rich soil by the side of water or in shallow still or slowly flowing water in a sunny position[2]. Plants are best grown in clumps[3].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in late summer in pots of soil that are submerged to their rims in water[2]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring[2]. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer. Stem cuttings rooted in wet mud in the summer[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Peltandra+sagittifolia>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. — Saunders. C. F. · Dover Publications · 1976 · ISBN 0-486-23310-3 ↩︎Useful wild plants of America. A pocket guide.
- [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
- [4]Manual of the Southeastern Flora. — Small J.K. · University of N. Carolina Press. · 1933 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Getting rather dated now, an immense work covering the flora of Southeastern N. America. No pictures, it is not for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
- [5]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
- [6]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.